SASKATCHEWAN, SK - The Montréal Alliance look to put an end to their five-game losing streak when they take on the Saskatchewan Rattlers on June 26 at 2 pm CT/4 pm ET in Saskatoon. 

The Alliance sit eighth in the standings at 3-7 while the Rattlers are seventh at 4-4. This is the first-ever meeting between the two clubs. 

Montréal has kept it close in losses to the Edmonton Stingers and Guelph Nighthawks recently. However, their last loss came 97-81 to the Fraser Valley Bandits. 

A slow start didn’t help against the Bandits as Montréal fell behind 28-8 after 10 minutes. While the team fought back – including outscoring their opponents in the second half – they couldn’t pull out the win. 

The Alliance’s bench stepped up as forward Nathan Cayo had a game-high 25 points as well as six rebounds. Guard Isiah Osborne continued his steady play with 15 points, two assists and three steals. 

Montréal has a good balance between guards who can make plays and forwards down low. Hernst Laroche is a primary playmaker. Ashley Hamilton and Dominic Green provide depth in the front court.

Two keys to victory for the Alliance include rebounding and offensive efficiency. They are ninth in average rebounds (32.1) and tenth in field goal percentage (41.8). Look for Cayo and Djo Ebala to have a significant role on the boards. Also look for guards Kemy Osse and Alain Louis to knock down threes to help their chances of victory. 

They are going up against a Saskatchewan team that is tops in three-point percentage (39.9). Their attack is led by D’Andre Bernard, Sebastian Åris, Malik Benlevi and Tony Carr, who all shoot 40 per cent or above from beyond the arc. Scottie Lindsay, Devonte Bandoo and Anthony Tsegakele are also strong deep shooters. 

The Rattlers are eighth in average rebounds (33.3) so it could be a tight rebounding battle. Saskatchewan is coming off a long break between games as their previous game was a 97-85 win over the Edmonton Stingers on June 17. 

In that game, Saskatchewan played the Stingers close consistently and outscored them 30-21 in the third quarter. They shot 17-for-26 (53 per cent) from deep. 

The Rattlers can pull out to big leads with their three-point shooting, something Montréal must be wary of. The Rattlers have yet to have a winning streak so far this season. They have an opportunity to get one here. 

Saskatchewan has a chance to move up the standings with their next three games all at home. This is the second of three straight road games for Montréal. 

One area to get better at is sharing the basketball. The Rattlers are tenth with an average of 13.8 assists. Carr leads all players with 5.5 on average but no teammate has more than two. The Alliance are ninth with 14.7 assists. The team that can move the basketball better and find open players could have an advantage this game. 

All games will be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ and on CEBL Mobile the official app of the CEBL for iOS and Android devices. Games are also available to stream live in Canada via cbcsports.ca, the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices, and the free CBC Gem streaming service.

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